Time Machine, backup is too big

Hi guys, I want to make a backup of all my data using time machine. But showed size by TM is too big. I've checked the size of my datas and it is 71.2GB (/Users) ,but time machine showed total size 176GB so how many GB has OSX? It can't be more than 100GB or yes? I want to make backup on 128GB USB key ,so I have to solve this problem out. Thanks

If you select your boot volume in the Finder and invoke File > Get Info, you'll be able to see the gross amount of data on that volume. Time Machine won't back up every bit of that, but with the padding it will add, the amount of space Time Machine will want will probably exceed the amount of data on the volume.
This Web page recommends that you have several times the amount of space on a Time Machine volume than what you're trying to back up. If you're stuck with using that 128GB flash drive, you may just want to to one single copy of your data to it, rather than trying to use Time Machine.

Similar Messages

TIme Machine backup grows too large during backup process

I have been using Time Machine without a problem for several months, backing up my imac - 500GB drive with 350g used. Recently TM failed because the backups had finally filled the external drive - 500GB USB. Since I did not need the older backups, I reformatted the external drive to start from scratch. Now TM tries to do an initial full backup but the size keeps growing as it is backing up, eventually becoming too large for the external drive and TM fails. It will report, say, 200G to back up, then it reaches that point and the "Backing up XXXGB of XXXGB" just keeps getting larger. I have tried excluding more than 100GB of files to get the backup set very small, but it still grows during the backup process. I have deleted plist and cache files as some discussions have suggested, but the same issue occurs each time. What is going on???

Michael Birtel wrote:
Here is the log for the last failure. As you see it indicates there is enough room 345g needed, 464G available, but then it fails. I can watch the backup progress, it reaches 345G and then keeps growing till it give out of disk space error. I don't know what "Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD" implies, maybe this is a clue?
No. It's sort of a warning, indicating that TM isn't sure what's changed on your internal HD since the previous backup, usually as a result of an abnormal shutdown. But since you just erased your TM disk, it's perfectly normal.
Starting standard backup
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Ownership is disabled on the backup destination volume. Enabling.
2009-07-08 19:37:53.659 FindSystemFiles[254:713] Querying receipt database for system packages
2009-07-08 19:37:55.582 FindSystemFiles[254:713] Using system path cache.
Event store UUIDs don't match for volume: Macintosh HD
Backup content size: 309.5 GB excluded items size: 22.3 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 345.01 GB requested (including padding), 464.53 GB available
This is a completely normal start to a backup. Just after that last message is when the actual copying begins. Apparently whatever's happening, no messages are being sent to the log, so this may not be an easy one to figure out.
First, let's use Disk Utility to confirm that the disk really is set up properly.
First, select the second line for your internal HD (usually named "Macintosh HD"). Towards the bottom, the Format should be +Mac OS Extended (Journaled),+ although it might be +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).+
Next, select the line for your TM partition (indented, with the name). Towards the bottom, the Format must be the same as your internal HD (above). If it isn't, you must erase the partition (not necessarily the whole drive) and reformat it with Disk Utility.
Sometimes when TM formats a drive for you automatically, it sets it to +Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).+ Do not use this unless your internal HD is also case-sensitive. All drives being backed-up, and your TM volume, should be the same. TM may do backups this way, but you could be in for major problems trying to restore to a mis-matched drive.
Last, select the top line of the TM drive (with the make and size). Towards the bottom, the *Partition Map Scheme* should be GUID (preferred) or +Apple Partition Map+ for an Intel Mac. It must be +Apple Partition Map+ for a PPC Mac.
If any of this is incorrect, that's likely the source of the problem. See item #5 of the Frequently Asked Questions post at the top of this forum for instructions, then try again.
If it's all correct, perhaps there's something else in your logs.
Use the Console app (in your Applications/Utilities folder).
When it starts, click +Show Log List+ in the toolbar, then navigate in the sidebar that opens up to your system.log and select it. Navigate to the +Starting standard backup+ message that you noted above, then see what follows that might indicate some sort of error, failure, termination, exit, etc. (many of the messages there are info for developers, etc.). If in doubt post (a reasonable amount of) the log here.

Time Machine: Backup is too large and I have space on my Time Capsule !

Hi Everybody,
I am using Time Machine with my 1T Time Capsule. Everything was running nice till I get message telling that backup could not complete because there was an error copying backup files. I searched for solutions, erased TM disk, reset TM, and reset TC too. Now I have 937g available on TC, I tried to backup 63g but a message came out telling that backup is too large !
Any ideas please !?

Hi
The backup failed too !
These are the messages from the console:
Apr 2 11:53:12 hussain-almarshoods-macbook kernel[0]:
Apr 2 11:53:42: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Apr 2 11:54:10 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Stopping backup.
Apr 2 11:54:10 hussain-almarshoods-macbook kernel[0]:
Apr 2 11:54:27: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Apr 2 11:54:27 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Originals/2010/2010-03-272/IMG0687.JPG to (null)
Apr 2 11:54:31 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Copied 168977 files (58.2 GB) from volume Macintosh HD.
Apr 2 11:54:31 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Copy stage failed with error:11
Apr 2 11:54:37 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Backup failed with error: 11
Apr 2 11:54:40 hussain-almarshoods-macbook [0x0-0x11011].com.tomtom.HOMERunnerApp[135]: Notifying device changed
Apr 2 11:54:42 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Ejected Time Machine disk image.
Apr 2 11:54:42 hussain-almarshoods-macbook [0x0-0x11011].com.tomtom.HOMERunnerApp[135]: Notifying device changed
Apr 2 11:54:42 hussain-almarshoods-macbook com.apple.backupd[413]: Ejected Time Machine network volume.
These are from TM buddy:
Starting standard backup
Attempting to mount network destination using URL: afp://Hussain%[email protected]/Hussainz
Mounted network destination using URL: afp://Hussain%[email protected]/Hussainz
Disk image /Volumes/Hussainz-1/Hussain Almarshood’s MacBook.sparsebundle mounted at: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups
Backing up to: /Volumes/Time Machine Backups/Backups.backupdb
Backup content size: 67.9 GB excluded items size: 3.8 GB for volume Macintosh HD
No pre-backup thinning needed: 76.92 GB requested (including padding), 874.08 GB available
Copied 3.6 GB of 64.1 GB, 152 of 620764 items
Copied 7.3 GB of 64.1 GB, 31990 of 620764 items
Copied 9.7 GB of 64.1 GB, 143329 of 620764 items
Copied 13.3 GB of 64.1 GB, 151861 of 620764 items
Copied 17.3 GB of 64.1 GB, 153066 of 620764 items
Copied 20.9 GB of 64.1 GB, 154141 of 620764 items
Copied 25.0 GB of 64.1 GB, 154854 of 620764 items
Copied 29.3 GB of 64.1 GB, 155711 of 620764 items
Copied 33.7 GB of 64.1 GB, 156613 of 620764 items
Copied 38.0 GB of 64.1 GB, 157522 of 620764 items
Copied 42.2 GB of 64.1 GB, 159199 of 620764 items
Copied 46.3 GB of 64.1 GB, 160927 of 620764 items
Copied 50.7 GB of 64.1 GB, 161025 of 620764 items
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Data/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0128.jpg to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0112.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0115.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0123.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0125.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0136.JPG to (null)
Error: (-36) SrcErr:YES Copying /Users/s9am8/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Modified/2010/2010-03-273/IMG0137.JPG to (null)
Copied 54.6 GB of 64.1 GB, 168977 of 620764 items
This is the TM message:
http://img.skitch.com/20100402-mmjqp1ecca6f1mukn1aggp4uw6.jpg
I this the problem is that there are still some corrupted(damaged) photos in the iPhoto library? Is that right?
Do I have to verify the internal HD ? or find a way to delete the iPhotos files "which I do not want them thou"?
OR you have other method?
Thanks

Time Machine iTunes Library too big for new Macbook Air

My Macbook Pro went out of commission some time ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to get a Macbook Air to replace it. I had a Time Machine backup of all my old files on an external hard drive, however I had quite an extensive music library that is far too large for my current storage. I do have a backup computer with Windows 7. Is there some way I can access my full music library (over 200 gb) on a different computer through the Time Machine backup or in some fashion so I can put the music I want onto my new computer?

NEVERMIND I FOUND A SOLUTION

Time Machine Backup Is Too Large For Backup Disc NOT

Hi, I have not been able to locate anything to help me with a time machine/time capsule issue I am experiencing. I have a 750 GB internal and a 1tb capsule. I have been using it to back up for well over a year with no real troubles. About three months ago, a message appeared that my time machine drive was basically filling up and that it was going to start deleting old backups to replace with new ones. No big deal I knew that this day would come. Well, today, I receive a message that it wants to back up 621.99 gbs (the entire drive!) and there is only 59.33 gbs of space. This should not be the case, it seems to think it is backing up a brand new initial back up for some reason when it shouldn't be. Why is it trying to back up the entire drive? I can't figure out what to do to get it back on track. This is the problem with my Apple products, problems are so few and far between for me that I don't remember what to do to correct the issues that arise every couple years. Can anyone guide me?

...have not been able to locate anything to help me with a time machine/time capsule issue I am experiencing.
Nothing here, John?
User Contributed Tips:
Pondini - Time Machine - TROUBLESHOOTING (Sept 25, 2009)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2057525
Pondini - Time Machine -- Frequently Asked Questions (Apr 3, 2009)
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1964018

Mountain Lion: Time Machine Backups Get Very Big!

This weekend I upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion, and most things work fine. I use an USB hardrive for backups, it's the same volume I used under Lion. Mountain Lion was able to continue using it, so I did not lose the history of my documents. So far, so good.
But: From time to time backups get really big. One example: This morning the backup that finished at 10:30 was about 50 MB at size, which is ok. The next backup started at 11:15 (and is still in progress), and while backing up, the estimated size grows and grows. Currently it's about 26,55 GB estimated, with 24 GB already backed up. But I did not produce more than 26GB of new or changed files, I just visited some websites, read news in Reeder and read some emails with Mail.app.
I saw this behaviour several times since monday, which lead time machine to clean old backups (previously I had backups from March, now the oldest backup is from May). What causes time machine to think that there is so much data not backed up, and why doesn't time machine know the size of the backup before copying the files, as it did in Lion?
Any suggestions?
Marcus

I have something similar. On three of the last 4 days, I have one TM backup which is about 56GB. And this is when I have not (knowingly) done anything to create 56GB data.
But, I have found something very odd. I have a large backup today. I then look at the previous hour's backup - it is missing /Applications, /System, /Library, etc. (it does have /Users and /opt). Given that, it is not surprising that the following backup is very big when it needs to redo /Applications, etc. (about 56GB).
So the strange behaviour is not the big backup, but the small one that preceded it!!
The .Backup.log and .exclusions.plist (in the TM backup location) look normal (or should I say no different to any others). In partciular the .exclusuions.plist doesn't have extras.
The entries in system.log look normal to me, as well.
And today, the small backup was at 4:22 am when I was fast asleep.
Is your behaviour like this Marcus?

Time Machine backups: Get too many Backups all the time (constantly Backing

My Time Machine back ups are always backing up, everyday, on the hour, everyday. I want to slow it down or schedule it to where I want to have it, to do its back ups, such as in the middle of the week at 3pm every wednesday or twice a week at 3pm to do the Back ups instead of every sec or min or hour evryday.
Right now I have an external 2nd HD and I have the back connected to that 2nd HD and whenever the Time machine does its back up to that 2nd HD it makes a loud irritating crackling noise, and I think its because I need a new 2nd HD but haven't enough money yet to get a new one but plan to hopefully soon but for now I would like to control this Time machine back up schedule, How do I do this? am I able to do this? Does anybody have a solution?
Thank you,
Mrs.Trisha Foster

Trisha Foster wrote:
Right now I have an external 2nd HD and I have the back connected to that 2nd HD and whenever the Time machine does its back up to that 2nd HD it makes a loud irritating crackling noise, and I think its because I need a new 2nd HD but haven't enough money yet to get a new one but plan to hopefully soon but for now I would like to control this Time machine back up schedule, How do I do this? am I able to do this?
You can't via Time Machine. And yes, that sort of noise from your external is a very bad sign. You can get even big externals for under $100 these days, so do it ASAP.
It also sounds like the problems with the drive are making your backups run very slowly; normally they run hourly, and are very quick and unobtrusive.
Under normal circumstances we usually advise against it, but there is a 3rd-party app, Time Machine Editor, that some folks use for this. Some say it works for them, others have had troubles with it, especially getting TM to work properly after they remove it.
Since this is temporary, a better bet might be to turn TM off, and just do manual backups as rarely as you dare (via the TM icon in your menubar, or by right-clicking the TM icon in your Dock.)
But please get a new drive soon. It's impossible to predict when it's going to fail completely.

Initial Time Machine Backup Taking Too Long

I have 184 GB of data to backup. Time Machine is backing up about 1 MB of data every 30 secs. At that rate, it will take 64 days for the initial full backup to complete. That can't be right. Has anyone run into similar problems? Any advice?
Thanks...

ixian98 wrote:
That can't be right. Has anyone run into similar problems? Any advice?
Hi check out [this thread|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1712437&tstart=0] which explains how best to format a disk for TM use.

Time machine backup space too small

After installing OSX Lion - I had Lion restore my files from the Time Machine. All went well. Except now that I want to keep this machine backed up - Time Machine is attempting to back it up in the 100 gigs or so space that is left rather than overwriting or adding to the old files. Do I have to reformat the drive and do another complete backup or is there away around the problem.
Thank-you.
Barb

Reformat is necessary because the disk has changed and Time Machine doesn't know what to do about it, whether to trust it or not. So reformatting is necessary. The Disk Utility is located in the utilities folder. Thanks!!

Time Machine: Backup is too large

Greetings,
I recently installed a new HD on my MBP.
After doing so Time Machine attempted to perform a full backup to my 1 TB external HD.
The backup failed, as my partitioned external drive did not have the available to space to store a full backup.
Is the best course of action to reformat and repartition the external drive?
FYI I have my original HD in a Sabrent USB enclosure, so I do have a bootable back-up.
Thank You,
Ian

You external should be 2-3 times the amount of data you are trying to backup. A reformat and repartition is probably the easiest way to go.

Time Machine backup taking too long (91 days)

I'm doing the initial TM backup to a partitioned EHD... TM has been running for 3 hours and it has made almost no progress. It even has the estimated time as 91 days (!!!) to complete the backup. Is this normal? The very first time I did TM (on another drive) I remember it took a while but surely not 91 days. Am I doing something wrong? Or do I just need to wait it out and let this take its sweet time?

Hello Jossydtaylor
Check out the article below to see if you match any of the criteria for Times Machine running slow. There are also some other link by the related articles that may provide more assistance as well.
OS X Mountain Lion: If Time Machine is slow
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11172
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

HT201250 Is my first time machine backup taking too long?

I'm running my first ever back up to Time Machine which was set up for me in the apple store yesterday. It's been going for around 20 hours and has only done 11.3 GB of the 112GB it needs to do. Is it normal for it to take this long?
Any help much appreciated.

Have now stopped and restarted and it's complete.

Time machine backup taking too long

I am trying to use timemachine to backup on a new 2 tb 'passport for mac' but after running it for 2days it has only backed up 16gb of 290 gb so i have had to stop it. Anyone know how i can speed this up?

That's about two days too many. Have you run Software Update? A fix for Lion's slow TM performance was released a week or so ago.
You really ought to post this question in the iMac (Intel) or OS X Lion discussions area.

Time machine backup too big for empty disk??

So I restart my MacBook Pro a few minutes after completing a full Time Machine backup. When it restarts it goes through the grey startup screen, then gets stuck on the blue screen just before the desktop normally appears. This happens whenever I startup. I am still able to hit the power button and get the Restart/Shut Down dialog, so I restart using my Snow Leopard boot disk, run Disk Utility, repair permissions, and repair disk, but the problem still remains. I decide to Restore from Time Machine Backup, so I erase my disk (80 GB, had only 200 MB free), go to the Restore screen and connect my backup disk. Now the weird part -- it says my latest backup is too big for the disk, even though i just erased everything, and 74.2 GB show as free. All my previous backups seem to fit fine, but apparently the last time Time Machine backed up more from my disk than can fit on my disk! It seems having a hard disk close to full is enough to render a backup effectively useless. Guess I'll have to restore from a previous backup, then manually copy the newer files. Just wanted to alert others to this insane problem, so it doesn't happen to them.

dgordon412 wrote:
(80 GB, had only 200 MB free)
That's likely corrupted your system. You should have a minimum of 10% - 15% free at all times. That's almost certainly why it wouldn't restart.
even though i just erased everything, and 74.2 GB show as free.
There must be something else on the drive; if you erase it, it should have just under 80 GB free. Is there another partition?
Did you erase with a Leopard Install disc or a Snow Leopard disc? If you used a Leopard disc, that might explain showing only 74.2 GB free (it counts differently).
If so, use your +Snow Leopard+ install disc to do a complete reformat, and try to restore the backup. A Leopard disc cannot restore a Snow Leopard backup. Even the Snow Leopard disc may not work, as it's just too full and/or your system was damaged by getting too full.
All my previous backups seem to fit fine, but apparently the last time Time Machine backed up more from my disk than can fit on my disk! It seems having a hard disk close to full is enough to render a backup effectively useless.
Having an OSX drive that full will make your Mac extremely sluggish, cause data corruption and/or loss, apps to crash, etc.
Guess I'll have to restore from a previous backup, then manually copy the newer files. Just wanted to alert others to this insane problem, so it doesn't happen to them.
If you can get your Mac running, you need to make several GBs of space immediately.
If all else fails, reformat the internal HD and install OSX from your Snow Leopard Install disc, then use +Setup Assistant+ after the Welcome video to transfer +*most, but not all+* of your stuff from the backup. Omit the contents of one or more large sub-folders in a home folder (such as Photos, Music, or Movies).
See #19 in [Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions|http://web.me.com/pondini/Time_Machine/FAQ.html] (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum), for details.

Time Machine backup on new Mac - but too big?

Hi,
I am the current owner of a Macbook and i use 160GB of my harddrive. I am contemplating on buying a Macbook Air 11" with 128GB "HD", but I am hesitant, since I don't know how the computer would handle having to start up from a Time Machine-back up made from my Macbook, that would of course be larger than the Macbook Air has capacity for.
Is it even possible?

firemandan900 wrote:
I just had to replace my 13" Macbook Pro through warranty. When I first turned it on I selected to restore the computer from my time machine backup and after several hours it finished successfully with the exception of Ilife which on the restore had to be updated before it would open the restored databases. The other issue I am having is that timemachine is no longer working. I would prefer to have timemachine backup to the existing archive structure it created on the old machine but right now it just says it can not find the volume. Is there a way to keep using the existing backup
If there's room, TM can start a new set of backups for the new Mac on the same disk or Time Capsule. But it will make a new, full backup of the new Mac, so if your TM disk/partition isn't at well over twice the size of the data it's backing-up, your best bet will be to erase the drive with Disk Utility and let TM start over.
There's a downside to that, though. TM on the new Mac won't delete the oldest backups from the old Mac when it needs room for new backups.
Instead, it will delete the oldest backups from the new Mac, leaving the old backups "stranded." Without erasing the TM disk/partition, you'll have to delete the old backups one at a time, via the TM interface, which is quite tedious and time consuming. See the instructions in item #12 of the Frequently Asked Questions post at the top of this forum.
or do I need to delate the archives and start a new archive?
That's probably your best option.

Time Machine, backup is too big

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